London - The Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams exhibition at the Victoria and
Albert Museum (V&A), which will mark the largest and most comprehensive
exhibition ever staged in the UK on the house of Dior, will feature a dress
worn by Princess Margaret, as well couture gowns worn by actresses Jennifer
Lawrence, Charlize Theron, and Lupita Nyong’o.

Opening on February 2, 2019, the exhibition based on the hugely popular
Christian Dior: Couturier du Rêve exhibition which ran at the Musée des
Arts Décoratifs in Paris will mark the museum’s biggest fashion exhibition
since Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty in 2015, and will span across 11
theatrical sections, tracing the history and impact of one of the 20th
century’s most influential luxury fashion houses from 1947 to the present
day.

Curated by Oriole Cullen, the V&A revelled at a press preview for the
up-coming exhibition, that the show will offer an in-depth and wide-ranging
study of Haute Couture garments since 1947, with a particular focus on
Dior’s love of Britain, and will trace not only the history and impact of
the couturier himself, but the skill and craftsmanship of the six artistic
directors who have succeeded him at his namesake brand, which the museum
states will showcase the “enduring influence” of the French fashion
house.

While based on the exhibition held at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in
Paris, the V&A will present 50 percent new content, with Dior’s obsession
with British Royalty, the aristocracy, and British culture sitting at the
heart of the exhibition, with a major highlight being Princess Margaret’s
off-the-shoulder Christian Dior couture gown wore to her 21st birthday
party in 1951 on loan from the Museum of London following conservation
work.

The exhibition will also explore the private shows arranged for the
Queen, the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret at the French Embassy in
London, as well as bring to life Dior’s spectacular fashion shows staged in
the UK’s most luxurious stately homes, including Blenheim Palace in
1954.

Oriole Cullen, fashion and textiles curator at the V&A, said in a
statement: “In 1947, Christian Dior changed the face of fashion with his
New Look, which redefined the female silhouette and reinvigorated the
post-War Parisian fashion industry. The V&A recognised Dior’s important
contribution to design history early-on in his career, acquiring his
sketches and garments from the 1950s onwards.

“The influence of Christian Dior’s design was all-pervasive and helped
to define an era. In their own individual ways, each of the House’s
successive artistic directors have referenced and reinterpreted Dior’s own
designs and continued the legacy of the founder, ensuring that the House of
Christian Dior is at the forefront of fashion today. More than seventy
years after its founding, the V&A’s exhibition celebrates the enduring
influence of the House of Dior and reveals Dior’s relationship with
Britain.”

The Dior in Britain section also investigates Dior’s creative
collaborations with British manufacturers, including Dents (gloves), Rayne
(shoes) Lyle and Scott (knitwear) and Mitchel Maer (costume jewellery), as
well as his most notable early British clients, including author Nancy
Mitford and ballet dancer Margot Fonteyn, and also his preference for
Savile Row suits.

Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams to open at V&A in 2019

Within the 11 sections, the exhibition will presents more than 500
objects, with over 200 rare Haute Couture garments, drawn from the
extensive Dior archives, featuring the work of not only Dior himself, but
all of Dior’s womenswear creative directors, including Marc Bohan,
Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano, Bill Gaytten, Raf Simons and the current
designer, Maria Grazia Chiuri, with the museum expressing that the
exhibition will show how “each successive artistic director has stayed true
to Dior’s vision of Haute Couture, while bringing their own creative
sensibilities to the House.”

A major highlight of the display will be the famed Bar Suit from Dior’s
ground-breaking first collection in 1947, which was gifted to the museum by
the House of Dior in 1960 with the help of Cecil Beaton. This revolutionary
silhouette will feature as part of the “New Look’ section, which considers
how subsequent Dior designers have reinterpreted it over the years.

There is also a section dedicated to Dior himself, his family life,
early career as a gallery owner, as well as the founding of the House of
Dior in 1946. It encompasses Dior’s extensive travel, the global success of
his couture house and the development of Miss Dior in 1947, the first
fragrance created alongside the very first show.

The ‘Dior Line’ showcases ten defining looks made between 1947 and 1957,
Christian Dior’s own tenure at the House, while ‘Historicism’ examines the
influence of historic dress and decorative arts in the House of Dior’s
designs from 1947 to today, featuring Dior’s love of the 18th century, and
the Belle Époque fashions worn by his mother, Madeleine Dior.

V&A to stage largest Christian Dior exhibition in the UK

Image: A paper toile at the Dior ateliers by Sophie Carre from Dior
Héritage collection, Paris

There are also sections dedicated to travel, and how different countries
and cultures have consistently inspired the various designers, as well as
the importance of flowers and gardens as a source of inspiration to the
House, from garments to perfume, as well as a ‘cabinet of curiosity’ style
installation showcasing toiles from the Dior Ateliers and a diorama
examining the breadth of the House of Dior, from accessories including
costume jewellery, hats, shoes and bags, to illustrations, miniature
dresses and archive lipstick and perfume, bottles, collected in a
kaleidoscopic display.

The finale will be ‘The Ballroom’ celebrating the fantasy of the Ball,
and Dior’s 70 year love affair with a fairytale evening gown. This section
will feature gowns by all six artistic directors, as well as Dior’s
original designs, including pieces worn by celebrities Jennifer Lawrence,
Charlize Theron, and Lupita Nyong’o, as well as a silk tulle fan pleated
dress created by current creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri.

The Dior exhibition is the latest in the V&A’s series of major fashion
exhibitions, including Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty; The Glamour of
Italian Fashion: 1945-2014; The Golden Age of Couture: Paris and London
1947-1957. In 2017, the V&A staged a retrospective on Cristóbal Balenciaga,
and current exhibition, Fashioned From Nature, is on show until 27 January,
2019.

Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams will run from February 2 to July 14,
2019 at the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Sainsbury Gallery.